Supreme Court justice temporarily restores part of travel ban

On Monday, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy overruled a lower court decision to block part of President Trump’s travel ban, reinstating the ban for the time being. Kennedy overruled the Ninth Circuit Court, which decided on Thursday to uphold an earlier decision which expanded the definition of “bona fide relationships” and allowed refugees with formal assurances from resettlement agencies to enter the country.

The Justice Department quickly filed an emergency request to have the decision reviewed, but only focused on the refugees and left the “bona fide relationship” part out of it. Kennedy’s decision is temporary, but it affects roughly 24,000 refugees who once again find themselves in a state of limbo waiting for SCOTUS to make a more formal ruling on this particular aspect of the travel ban and, later in October, the ban in its entirety.

Kennedy’s Monday ruling puts a temporary stop to the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling. SCOTUS is expected to make a more permanent ruling on the issue of refugees with formal assurances in the next few days. Had the decision not been appealed, the injunction would have gone into affect on Tuesday.